In motor vehicles, motor driven devices, such as in windows and seat positioning, are becoming increasingly popular over standard manual devices. Consumers find it much easier and enjoyable to push a button to have the window go up and down or to move a seat into a desired position. Rolling windows down or positioning a seat manually is becoming increasing obsolete. However, these and other motor driven devices like them have been known to become dangerous for users if a body part or some other article gets caught while the motor is activating movement. While an object is caught, there can be a lot of stress on the motors and they may burn out if they become too hot or even just shut off. If this happens, the body part or article caught is still pinched and cannot be released until the motor cools and is reset. This can result in serious damage or injury. The solution to that problem has been to use load sensing devices in line with a motor power output or combined current/speed sensors with sophisticated and expensive software plus motor thermal protection systems. Examples of such devices for motor driven windows include U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2003/0151382 AI, 2003/0137265 AI, 2002/0190680 AI, and 2001/0048280. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,548,979, 6,404,158 and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2002/0121872 and 2002/0101210 solve this problem for more devices than just motor driven windows. The devices in these applications solve the problem for door positioning, windows, sliding panels (such as a sunroof), seats, control petals, steering wheel, etc.
While the above listed inventions help move the technology for motor driven devices in motor vehicles forward, they are very costly and make cars more expensive for consumers. Thus, there remains a need in the art for a simple and inexpensive device that prevents possible pinching and damage or injury to an object caught by a motor driven assembly. There further remains a need for a device of this type that also protects the motor from damage in a pinching event.